Background. Children who exhibit externalizing problem behaviour are at high risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Insights into factors that may influence the development of...Show moreBackground. Children who exhibit externalizing problem behaviour are at high risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Insights into factors that may influence the development of externalizing problem behaviour in children can prevent negative consequences of this behaviour later in life. Significantly better performance intelligence than verbal intelligence (PIQ > VIQ discrepancies) and impairments in social cognition are hypothesized to underlie excessive externalizing problem behaviour. Methods. Participants were 5- to 16-year-old children at high risk of developing criminal behaviour (N = 97, 12.4% with a PIQ > VIQ discrepancy). Children were recruited through an early identification project and selected based on borderline and clinical scores on the Teacher’s Report Form (TRF). Data was collected using the TRF, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and ‘Sociaal Cognitieve Vaardigheden Test’. Results. The results on the Independent Samples T-tests showed that children with a PIQ > VIQ discrepancy do not differ from children with a VIQ > PIQ discrepancy in the amount of externalizing problem behaviour and social cognition. Additionally, the regression analysis found that social cognition was not a significant predictor of externalizing problem behaviour, regardless of the type of discrepancy. Conclusion. In general, children with externalizing problem behaviour have a below average intelligence, regardless of their intelligence profile. Furthermore, VIQ-PIQ discrepancies are unrelated to externalizing problem behaviour and social cognition and therefore psychologists should be hesitant in assuming such a relationship in diagnostic practices. Moreover, no relationship was found between social cognition and externalizing problem behaviour in these children. It is recommended to leave the influence of discrepancies out of consideration in young children and to investigate whether or not specific aspects of both verbal comprehension abilities and visual-spatial information processing skills are associated with externalizing problem behaviour and social cognition in children at risk of developing criminal behaviour.Show less
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